Who is the First Rider?
by Luke Danger
Summary: In the aftermath of Drago's defeat, Berk rebuilds. But amongst the reconstruction a threatening letter from Dagur the Deranged provokes Snotlout into commenting on Hiccup's most iconic achievement - being the first Viking to ride a dragon - and the fact that Valka had done so for years.


If there was one thing Vikings were known for, it was stubbornness. Any sane people - like the Franks, the Saxons, the Gauls, the Welsh, or even the Romans of their long since destroyed empire, they would have packed up and left the island. Or at the very least moved to a different part of it, a part not covered in draconic ice from top to bottom in jagged spikes the size of mountains.

Not Vikings, particularly those of Berk. They had stubbornness issues. And well, any self respecting tribe that can survive three hundred years of almost constant raids by flying, fire breathing reptiles with a wide array of abilities would be quite used to rebuilding after everything was burned down, wrecked, and otherwise destroyed. This was no different than the last few hundred times. The main difference was they had to spend a few days getting temporary housing squared away before tackling the challenge of reclaiming the town.

Of course, most places would use mules or oxen to carry large loads of glacial crystal, debris, and any recovered food out. And then use the same to haul back the materials to rebuild once the ruined town was cleared. Not Berk. They had… well, you know.

"Dragons!" Hiccup warned as he and Toothless dove to the side to avoid the flight of adolescents of various dragon species flying towards the town from their roost.

"Oh this day just keeps getting better," he muttered. First the twins ignited a few barrels worth of Zippleback gas, barrels that that Hiccup and Gobber had been using to experiment with dragon dropped explosives. And those were the same barrels that they had quickly repurposed for demolition work in order to break the ice in Berk. Then after the smoke cleared there he had to deal with a large scale brawl started between the Gustav and other riders in training at the Academy, which took an hour to sort out. And now the baby and adolescent dragons were getting underfoot?

Toothless growled in annoyance and Hiccup patted him on the side. "Yeah, I know. Work never ends for us. C'mon, let's head them off before they freak out Bucket and Mulch again."

The young dragons were fluttering around the bay leading up to Berk itself where the still seaworthy ships were crewed and at work fishing since the damage had destroyed most of their food stores and scattered most of the sheep. Other older dragons were also fishing, Hiccup spotting several Monstrous Nightmares diving into the water to scare fish towards the nets.

A quick adjustment of the prosthetic tail, and Berk's chief and alpha dragon dove towards the adolescents and came in front of them. The young dragons tried to come to a halt in the air and hover as they blocked their flight path. Tried being the operative word as some lost altitude before regaining their composure. A few landed in the water, though none were hurt and seemed to enjoy their unexpected bath before getting above the waves and taking flight again.

"Well that wasn't too…" Hiccup paused with a groan as they scattered. "... hard." Toothless growled. "Yeah I know, spoke to soon." Reengaging the tailfin, the two sped forward at a trio of young Nadders whose tail spikes were up.

"_Hiccup!"_ Astrid shouted above him as the two shot past the young Nadders and caused them to turn around in surprise, "What happened?"

"They're babies, what do you think?" Hiccup retorted as Astrid and Stormfly leveled off next to them. "Just keep them away from the boats before they cause any trouble!"

"On it! Let's go girl!" The two peeled away towards a pair of young Zipplebacks as Hiccup dove towards an adolescent Monstrous Nightmare that was ignited and flying towards a sail. Reaching for his sword, Inferno, he vented a thin trail of gas from the hilt and then lit the spark, creating a short trail of fire. The Nightmare came to a flying halt as Hiccup deployed the sword in full and held it in front of him and the young dragon cooed happily. Hiccup smirked as the Nightmare flew back towards the roost near the Academy that had been set up to accommodate the young dragons while Berk was rebuilding since the usual stable buildings and hangars were gone.

Hiccup turned and groaned again as he saw one of the boats shaking as a large number of the younger ones were flying down when a large dragon with four wings hovered nearby and roared. The young dragons paused what they were doing - one of the baby Gronckles humorously having one of (formerly Silent) Sven's beard braids in his mouth - before they scattered away towards the roost.

"Thanks mom!" Hiccup shouted as he and Toothless flew up and hovered nearby.

"You're welcome," she answered with a smile. "Though, Gobber's looking for you, says you need to head to the great hall."

Hiccup sighed. "Alright."

Astrid and Stormfly flew up next to them and he glanced at the two. "Could you guys make sure those babies get back to the roost?" he asked. "They can't be underfoot anywhere in town, especially since Gobber's going to be using the gas barrels we have left for icebreaking later."

"Sure thing, you go handle whatever's going on."

"Thanks," Hiccup said before he and Toothless shot towards the great hall.

Landing at the edge of it, Hiccup looked up at the impressive structure and gave a little half smile. It had been spared Drago's Bewilderbeast's attack from its height on the mountain and the size meant that it was quite capable of housing most of Berk' Viking population while the Academy, nearby caves, and the fields around the island were more than enough for temporary camps for everyone else while they were working on clearing the town. It took a few days to get everyone safely squared away so they could use things like the barrels of Hideous Zippleback gas they had to blast the ice, but Hiccup felt like it would be far more effective than normal methods of chipping away at the ice with pickaxes.

Taking off his helmet and resting it on a latch on Toothless' saddle, the two walked into the great hall where dozens of Vikings were going about their daily business.

"Mornin' chief!" a little girl about five years old said.

"Morning Magnus," Hiccup answered with a smile as he patted her on the head before the young girl's mother hurried over to pull her away from Toothless before the little girl tried to hug him.

"Ah, there he is!" Gobber said as Hiccup approached the end of the hall. Snotlout and his father Spitelout were both there as well.

"What's the matter?" Hiccup asked.

"Another set of surrender terms," Gobber explained as he held up a scroll. "It's Dagur."

Hiccup groaned. "Again?"

"Yup." Gobber answered as he opened the scroll and began reading it aloud. _"To the First Dragon Rider, the Dragon Conqueror…"_

"Trainer," Hiccup dryly cut in.

Gobber continued unhindered, "... _wielder of the Ornate Shield,"_

"He's _still_ bitter about that?"

"_The Berserker's Bane and Outcast's Fear, the Defender of Berk,"_

"Just counting the riders we had back then, there's about five others."

"Would you stop that?!" Gobber snarled with a sigh before he finished, "_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk,"_

"Finally through the titles huh?" Hiccup commented. Gobber scowled briefly.

"It's proper form to address a chief by his titles in formal address, Hiccup."

"I know, I know, but Dagur usually _doesn't_ include them."

"Can you take this seriously?" Snotlout scoffed, "I mean, c'mon, you're the chief now. Act like it."

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup shrugged. "Sure. What's the rest of the letter?"

"_Berk stands weak, vulnerable, destroyed. In recompense for past wrongs done to the Berserker Tribe by its riders, including but not limited to terrorizing the diplomatic party sent five years ago, lying to the mighty Chief Dagur the Deranged of Berk's dragon population, assaulting the Berserker Chief to protect a dragon, stealing a Skrill - twice - from its rightful owners the Berserker Tribe and electrocuting the brave Chief Dagur the Deranged in the process, usurping the indomitable Chief Dagur the Deranged of his rightful place as Conqueror of the Outcasts and aiding the foul Alvin the Treacherous in the process, permitting the vile overthrown false chief to mutilate the resilient Chief Dagur the Deranged,"_ Gobber paused for breath.

"Wow. He holds a grudge." Hiccup remarked, scratching Toothless' head as the dragon made an amused growl in response. "He forgot the time where we blew up his net launcher traps on Outcast Island or when we sunk his fleet with his own Smokebreaths."

"Don't hold your breath, I'm sure he remembers quite clearly," Gobber said as he shook his head before holding it out. "Ah, take it Spitelout, you finish it."

"Right," the taller Viking said as he took it. "_the righteous,"_ Spitelout paused to cough,_ "Chief Dagur the Deranged calls for Berk to surrender itself to the Berserker Tribe's control, to become its vassal in payment for these wrongs. The terms are as follows."_

Hiccup partially tuned it out as he began rubbing Toothless' neck, much to the Night Fury's joy as he settled down comfortably on the hall's floor.

"_First, Berk shall cede all dragons to the care of the Berserker Tribe for use as it sees fit."_

"_Second, Berk shall tithe half of its food and all weaponry to the Berserker Tribe."_

"_Third, the art of dragon riding will be exclusive to the Berserker Tribe and Berk shall be responsible for telling the Berserker's all the riders who have learned there to ensure their allegiance or elimination."_

"_Fourth, Berk shall no longer have a seat at the Council of Chieftains._

"_Fifth, these terms will be met with no negotiation, either accepting these generous terms or prepare to be subdued by the Berserker Armada."_

Spitelout scowled. "_Signed by the great, the indomitable, the mighty, and fearsome Dagur the Deranged, High Chief of the Berserker Tribe, Cracker of Skulls, Slayer of Beasts, Bane of Outcasts._"

Hiccup shook his head at Dagur's ego inflation. "Yeah, any single one those terms are pretty much unacceptable. So, what, Dagur thinks he can win this time? Being mutilated by Alvin five years ago wasn't enough for him?"

"Seems so," Gobber said as he pushed his stone tooth back down into his mouth. "So, what's the appropriate rebuttal Chief?"

"Exact words: _Dagur, terms denied. From, Hiccup_."

"Eloquent," Gobber smirked. "Shouldn't take long to give back to the messenger."

"What was with that 'First Dragon Rider' title anyways?" Snotlout asked. "I mean, isn't that your mother?"

Hiccup paused, raising an eyebrow at Snotlout. "Maybe, but what're you getting at?"

"I mean, you're entire claim to fame around the islands is that you were the first one to ride a dragon, but your mother was doing that for years. So, why are you special again?"

"Snotlout!" Gobber chided as Toothless began to growl at the arrogant Viking.

"I'm serious," Snotlout continued unabated. "For _years_ everyone goes on about how Hiccup was the one to discover dragons weren't the monsters we thought they were, that we could ride them, then we find out that his mother's been doing it for years?" He paused and glanced towards Gobber. "I mean, Hiccup's good, but let's keep the record straight here, alright?"

"He's got a point," Spitelout admitted thoughtfully. "Though not relevant to the position of chief given his other achievements, as Dagur's list showed. Still something to think about."

"Thanks for the support," Hiccup sarcastically muttered as he rolled his eyes when the door burst open and one of the lookouts was standing at the door, panting.

"Chief! Chief! A pirate ship has been spotted on the horizon!"

"Oh this day just gets better and better," Hiccup muttered as he reached for Toothless' saddle and pulled himself up. "Go find Hookfang and get the twins;" he said as he looked towards Snotlout, "we're warding off that ship now."

"Haha, Yes!" Snotlout laughed as he ran towards the door. Two men near the door glanced at Toothless and leaned on the open doors to keep them open.

As Hiccup and Toothless were about to take off Gobber cut in. "Hiccup, you sure about your answer?"

He paused and turned around. "Yeah. I mean, c'mon, even if Oswald the Agreeable gave those terms we'd of turned them down. Not that he would have, of course, they're outrageous."

"Right. It'll be ready to sign by the time you're back. Have fun out there!"

"Thanks," he answered as he locked Toothless' prosthetic into position and the two launched out of the open doors of the great hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Hiccup!" Astrid called as she noticed he wasn't paying attention as the five dragons were in formation over the bay, passing by the wrecked lighthouse statues used to guide ships into the bay. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Hiccup said as he hastily adopted one of his trademark cocky grins, "Why?"

"You looked like something's bothering you," she answered, unconvinced by the false bravado he projected. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he insisted. "Look, let's focus on the pirates ahead. Fishlegs, you recognize the markings?"

"Not the specific crest, but..." Fishlegs answered thoughtfully as he looked at the ship's sail, squinting. "I think they're mainlanders. Danes, or if they aren't maybe they're from Iceland."

"Right," Hiccup said as he glanced between the riders. If they recognized the crest that would have made it easy to choose a course of action, but without knowing who they were he had to play it carefully.

"Okay," Hiccup finally said as he decided on a plan. "Fishlegs: you, Snotlout, and the twins hang back in the air and stay out of range. Don't dive down to strike unless I give the signal or if we get hurt and need the cover. Astrid and I will head down and find out who they are and what they're doing here. "

"Assuming they're actually Vikings and speak the same dialect," Astrid muttered with a faint smirk as Stormfly squawked in amusement before she followed Hiccup in a gentle dive towards the ship.

They leveled off over the water, slowing down their speed as they approached the ship, a normal longboat save for its weathered hull and an arsenal of ballistas mounted on top. Her gut tightened as she had a bad feeling about the ship. "Uh, Hiccup, they're armed to the teeth."

"Yeah, I know," he responded as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a large white cloth and waved it. Astrid looked towards the pirates who had spotted them…

"They're going to fire!" she shouted as she saw them manning the siege weapons.

"I see it! Pull up!" Hiccup shouted. The two shot into the air and began gaining altitude quickly as several large bolts shot in their direction, missing horrendously as they had aimed for them directly rather than above or ahead of them.

"Man!" Astrid shouted as they came around and Hiccup put the white cloth back in his saddlebag, "These guys really aren't from around here!"

"Let's disable them! I'll take out the ballistas, you wreck the sails!" Hiccup slapped the visor of his helmet down and dove, Astrid following a short distance behind.

Ever since Alvin learned to bond with dragons, the Berk Dragon Academy had spent months devising various plans of attack, including plans on how to hit unidentified ships that proved to be hostile from the air. The riders boarding was never an option with hostile ships, especially for Hiccup, so he and Stoick had settled for the riders being the first responders who would disable the ship if it proved to be hostile, then Berk would send out its own ships and use the air cover the dragons provided to board the ship and inspect it.

As the two dove, the distinct howl of the Night Fury filled the skies as Toothless used his echolocation to spot his targets on the dive down and hostile ballista bolts fired repeatedly, but at too low arcs for any good ballista meant to stave off dragon attacks. Astrid smirked as the two sped ahead of her and purple fire shot out of Toothless' mouth at the pirate ship, blasting the siege weapons to splinters and sending several of the crew overboard. _Amateurs,_ she thought as she and Stormfly came over the ship.

"Stormfly, fire!" she said and the Deadly Nadder released a short jet of flame at the ship's sails before flying away.

"Get those flying beasts!" one of the pirates shouted, throwing a hand axe at them. Astrid ducked as it overshot and smiled down at them as their sails burned away.

"Welcome to Berk!" she shouted before Stormfly shot into the air again as Toothless dove down for another attack run, splintering more of the deck mounted ballistas. As they came back up to a higher altitude, Hiccup looked at her and nodded.

"Go tell Spitelout to get a boarding party out here. We'll interrogate them later."

"And you'll be?..."

"Making sure the twins don't just sink the ship and making sure it doesn't leave!" he answered as the Night Fury gave a toothy grin before the two dove again. Astrid smirked and gave Stormfly a light nudge.

"Come on, let's go home, it's about time to get you some chicken anyways." The Nadder squawked happily as they flew back. As they left the fight, she glanced back to Hiccup and frowned. _What happened that got you all riled?_ she wondered as he cheered loudly when coming back out of the dive.

XXXXXXXXXX

"YEAH!" Hiccup shouted as he and Toothless pulled out of the dive having splintered another ballista the pirates had moved above deck after getting their overboard crew out of the water. "Nice job, bud," he said as they leveled off at a higher altitude, patting him on the neck.

"We finishing them off?" Snotlout asked confidently as the other three dragons and their riders met up with him, "or did you send Astrid back to get a ship?"

"Boarding," Hiccup explained. "They might just be pirates, but it never hurts to be thorough."

"Ah we can take 'em!" Ruffnut said.

"Yeah! I mean, c'mon, little gas, little spark, deck's clear, we punch the rest out!" Tuffnut finished and the two leaned over to headbutt each other, still wearing wide grins.

"Or we could just sink it with lots of gas and a spark!" Ruffnut suggested.

"Even better!" Tuffnut answered happily.

"Yeah, let's not. We're not marauders like Alvin's followers, we're just protecting our waters," Hiccup chided as he glared angrily at the two. "Now keep your eyes open, they may have more tricks up their sleeves."

"Yeah yeah," Snotlout said boorishly, "Wake me when something happens." The burly Viking leaned back in the saddle and closed his eyes and Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes.

_The First Dragon Rider;_ the title that some had used to refer to him rang in his head again. It shouldn't of bothered him. Sure, his mother may of done it earlier, but did that mean what he did had no meaning?

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked as he and Meatlug hovered next to Toothless as they entered a holding pattern over the pirate ship.

"Huh?" Hiccup asked, glancing towards him. "What? Something wrong?"

"They're getting oars out," he said, pointing down. Hiccup glanced down and saw the ship moving again.

"Right. Ruff, Tuff, fly by the port side and set off an explosion, break the oars."

The twins laughed as Barf and Belch dived, Hiccup and Toothless following them as Toothless fired a small fireball at the deck to force the crew to take cover. The Zippleback reached the port side and Barf breathed out the green gas, engulfing the port side of the ship before Belch ignited it, rocking the entire ship towards the starboard side and splintering the portside oars and breaking off a few of the shields mounted on the port side.

"Alright!" one of the men on the ship shouted, "We get it! We surrender! Just stop wrecking our ship!"

Hiccup smirked as he looked down. "Good!" he shouted. "Now just stay there!"

Returning to the holding pattern, he curled his lip as he looked at them. Definitely not from any of the nearby island chains. Their ballistas also seemed to lack the easy traversal for hitting airborne targets that was ubiquitous around the islands from the centuries of fighting dragons. _Definitely from the mainland,_ he thought as he nodded.

"Hey, Fishlegs, when was the last time Trader Johann was on the mainland?"

"Two years ago, maybe?" the stout rider responded with a shrug. "It's a fairly long trip and he's had some trouble with that Olaf Tryggvason guy so he doesn't like sailing that far."

"Right," Hiccup said with a nod as they waited for the boarding party.

'_I mean, you're entire claim to fame around the islands is that you were the first one to ride a dragon, but your mother was doing that for years. So, why are you special again?'_ Hiccup shook his head as he heard Snotlout's words back in the great hall again, frowning as he considered the implications.

Did he really care about the title? After all, he didn't need fancy titles to know he did great things. He had Toothless, what else did he need?

Yet there was a part of him that felt threatened. Like he had been living a lie, taking pride in something he shouldn't have. "What do you think, bud?" he asked Toothless. The dragon glanced up at him with a confused look. "Think it matters if we were first or not?"

Toothless growled softly. "Yeah, I know. Still, you have to wonder…"

"Hey, Hiccup? You okay?" Fishlegs asked.

"I'm fine," Hiccup shot back, glad he was wearing his helmet's visor was down. "Just thinking."

Fishlegs nodded slowly. "I understand, I miss him too."

"Yeah…" Hiccup trailed off as he saw another dragon and a ship coming towards them from the harbor. "Looks like the boarding party's arrived. Let's make sure they get in close and board."

The dragons dove down as the pirates looked up sullenly as the Berk ship pulled up on the pirate ship's left side, Hiccup and Toothless coming in for a landing on the Berk ship as Astrid and Stormfly followed and Astrid leapt off as well.

Spitelout latched a gangplank onto the pirate ship and walked forward, sword in hand. "Alright, state your business in our waters."

"We - we're just simple travelers," one of them said, wearing more ornate armor than the others. Hiccup pegged him as the ship's captain. "We saw the dragons flying at us and thought were were under attack."

"And you didn't think we were trying to signal you with the white flag?" Hiccup asked, unconvinced.

"Was that what it was? I had no idea."

"Right. Spitelout, do a quick search, make sure there's no contraband." Hiccup ordered as he turned to the ship's captain. "If this was just a tragic mistake, we'll help fix the ship."

The captain gulped as Spitelout and two other men opened the hold and Spitelout snarled. "Chief, there's thralls down there."

"What?" Hiccup asked, reaching for his sword and scowling. Astrid had her axe in hand and the rest of the Berk warriors were arming up as well. The dragons also began to growl, sensing the fight about to happen. Even the Terrible Terrors popular amongst the more seagoing Vikings of Berk were on the shields armoring the ship and growling challengingly at the pirates.

"So what?" the captain asked as he kept his focus on Hiccup. "I bought them fair and square at the Althing last year; was planning on sailing back to Norway and sell 'em once we finished our business out here."

"You realize Berk doesn't practice that, right?" Hiccup said as he tilted his head, finger over the sword's lighter. "No thralls on Berk or in it's waters, especially if you intend to trade with us."

"And what're you going to do about it?" the captain asked as Hiccup simply glanced to Toothless. The captain's bravado fell. "Er, right…"

"Bring the ship back to Berk," Hiccup ordered as he walked back towards Toothless and retracted the blade to holster it again, "We'll talk to the prisoners and see if this story checks out."

"Aye, chief," Spitelout said as he gave his crew a nod and the dragons calmed down and weapons lowered. "What about the ship crew?"

"Disarm them for now. And see if there's any other contraband." He turned to look at the pirate ship's captain once more. "And for the record, Berk isn't happy with pirates either."

The pirate gulped as Hiccup got back onto Toothless' back and the two took off, followed shortly by Astrid and Stormfly.

"You do realize Berk's one of the few that don't use thralls, right?" Astrid pointed out. "If the story checks out that's interfering with another group of Viking's property."

"I know," Hiccup answered uncertainly as they entered another holding pattern to wait for Spitelout to finish the inspection and bring the ship back to Berk. "But you know how I feel about slavery."

Astrid simply nodded as they waited for the inspection to finish.

XXXXXXXX

**Half an Hour Later**

**Great Hall, Berk**

"We also found this," Spitelout said as he dropped a small chest on the table as Hiccup was sitting in the great hall's throne. Astrid was standing behind him, the captured pirate captain on the opposite side of the table from him held between two guards, while the dragons were waiting outside save for a few of the guards' Terrible Terrors, who were perched on the shoulders of their human companion.

Leaning forward, Hiccup frowned as he studied the chest. "That's Trader Johann's family crest. He explicitly puts those on his chests to mark what's not for sale or trade on his ship. Care to explain how that ended up in your cargo hold?"

"We met with him once to buy food, he must of made a mistake and given us the wrong one!" the pirate captain pleaded. "Please, we're just sailors! Merchants! Well armed ones to be sure, but hey, here be dragons!"

"Explain this then," Gobber demanded suddenly as he walked in from the back of the hall. "The people held prisoner aboard your ship claim you kidnapped them from Lava Lout Island and ransacked their town! You dragged them aboard your ship and declared they were going to be sold to a slaver in the Shetland Islands!"

"Isn't Lava Lout Island where Trader Johann maintains a storehouse?" Astrid asked with a frown. "When he found my great grandfather's old warhammer two years ago he left it there for me to pick up since he wasn't going to be in Berk for some time and had no time to double back."

Hiccup nodded as he remembered the trip there and the brief skirmish with Dagur's men they had on the way home. "He does. Gobber, send a rider to Lava Lout Island to ask if they've been raided. How many long ago was this?"

"About two days ago," Gobber explained before shrugging uncertainly. "Give or take, they were knocked out when they were kidnapped."

"By boat, that's about right to put them in our waters." Spitelout chimed in as he folded his arms at the pirate captain, whose eyes went wide in horror.

"Lock them up but treat them fairly," Hiccup ordered as he stared coldly at the pirates. "And inspect the ship again for anything bearing crests that we can use to get things back to their owners. If you did raid Lava Lout Island, I'm going to let them decide what to do with you."

"Please! Have mercy!" the pirate captain begged as he fell on his knees. Hiccup scowled as he rested his right hand on the pommel of Inferno.

"I'm not killing you, am I?" Hiccup pointed out as he pushed himself up from the throne. "Spitelout, make sure everything on that ship gets logged somewhere."

Spitelout nodded and pulled the pirate to his feet and pushed him along, flanked by the two guards as they went to lock the pirate with his men. As soon as they were gone and Gobber went to go find the prisoners a place to rest and to take them to Gothi to make sure they suffered no lasting ailments, Hiccup and Astrid walked to the end of the great hall and Astrid grabbed his hand as he was about to open the door.

"Hiccup, are you alright?" Astrid asked with a frown. "I mean, you're usually a little more involved with deciding on what to do; I mean, just ask the Snotlout when he was rustling Gunnar's sheep. You had him helping Bucket and Mulch cook dinner for two days straight." In other words, he had to stand around a spit for hours on end instead of whatever he did with his free time.

"I'm just passing it to the ones who were actually wronged," Hiccup said to try and shrug the question off. "Hey, they sailed into our waters but that doesn't mean we have to pass judgment on them. Might as well let the ones who actually got attacked judge them."

"And if they weren't attacked?"

"Then we've got a problem." Hiccup admitted as he opened the door and (formerly silent) Sven walked up to him. "Sven?" he asked with a frown.

"It's the Fitzgeralds, they're having a fight down near the Academy."

Hiccup sighed in annoyance. An argument between the newlyweds and the honeymoon had just started? _Oh why couldn't their house of survived, then it would of been contained…_ he thought as he shook his head and answered. "Alright, thanks Sven. Astrid, you doing anything?"

"Helping Gobber with the barrels once he's done with those prisoners, mostly just keeping the twins away from them."

He nodded as he got back onto Toothless. "Right, make sure they explode where they're supposed to and not anywhere else. And make sure the twins don't get a chance to try any of their ideas!"

"You worry too much," she answered with a smirk as she gave him a light punch, mostly caught by his armor's shoulder guard. "Just keep doing what you always do."

"For about a week, yeah," he answered dryly before he and Toothless launched to the skies and flew down towards the old arena.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Four Hours Later**

Stumbling towards the large door, Hiccup almost fell on his face as he walked through only to be caught by Toothless. "Thanks buddy," he said as the dragon helped him upright.

"Long day?"

He glanced up and saw his mother and Cloudjumper sitting by the table they had set up in the back of the great hall that was serving as where they lived. It was one of the old storerooms, but the building supplies that had been held there had already been rolled out to repair the docks, leaving it open to be used and since most of his responsibilities were centered there Gobber arranged for him and his mother to bunk there. Plus, the door and the room was big enough for their dragons to get through.

On their table were three mugs, one of which she was drinking from slowly and the other two were in front of the open seat where he usually sat.

"How'd you guess?"

"It seemed like a two mug day."

"And two ice blocks," he muttered as he took a seat and reached for the nearest mug, sniffing the ale before gulping it down. Toothless walked over towards where he slept and slumped down, curling up without even warming it first with his fire breath.

"Long day?"

"Yeah."

"You want to talk about it?"

'_... then we find out that his mother's been doing it for years?_'

"Not particularly," Hiccup answered as he tried to push the comment from earlier aside. "So, I take it the baby dragons made it back alright?"

"Oh they were fine. A few of their parents had to come over from what they were doing to calm them down, but they stopped running everywhere." Cloudjumper leaned in and she rubbed his nose gently.

"Good," Hiccup said as he leaned back. "Getting the dragons enthralled by the Red Death to not wreck everything was hard enough. I'd really love to avoid a repeat of that." As his mother frowned at him, Hiccup straightened himself up. "Er, not that I'm unwilling to, it's just… you know."

"I know, you've got a lot to deal with already." She answered with a half smirk as she glanced at Toothless. "I'm just worried they'll become domesticated like cats or dogs."

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But then again, trying to treat a dragon like dirt is a good way to need a water trough. Just ask Snotlout, we've lost count of the number of times he's burned him when he started bragging."

"True," she admitted as Hiccup finished the first mug and moved on to the second.

"So what'd you get up to?" he asked as he put the second mug down, a quarter through it already.

"Mostly what you saw, and helping around that Academy of yours as well." She smirked, "those little kids really love Cloudjumper."

"They love any new dragon," Hiccup answered with a smirk. "Part of why I handed off the day to day stuff to Astrid a year ago; they'd keep swarming Toothless here." That, and he wanted some time to himself without his dad bearing down on him constantly.

"Anyways, you'd better clean up before dinner, I hear that Bucket fellow's got something tonight."

"Probably more fish," Hiccup dryly noted after he finished the mug's contents and slumped down in the chair. "Of course I've got to make sure everyone takes their fair share with the rationing since we don't know how long it'll take to fix the storehouses…"

"A Chief's work never ends."

"Nope. Not at all," he said as he tried to get comfortable. Maybe he could doze off and let his headache subside before he had to do that. His mother simply nodded and stood, petting Cloudjumper as he tried to fall asleep and forget Snotlout's remarks earlier that day.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Huh?" Hiccup asked as he was jolted awake. "Nah, just a long day."

Somehow, he felt like he didn't convince her at all but she said nothing else as Hiccup simply closed his eyes and let his weight settle.

So what if he wasn't the first one to ride a dragon? Did that change anything between him and Toothless? Did it put some sort of curse on them? At best, it just meant he had a minor correction to make when people started throwing titles around. Who needed titles anyways? He was better than people like Dagur or Snotlout who ate up the attention like the twins ate up destruction! Why would not being the first dragon rider bother him?

"Hiccup? It's time."

"Huh, what?" he asked, startled out of his thoughts and looking around, noticing the room had gotten darker.

"It's time for supper," his mother explained as she gestured to the door.

"Oh, right." He put a hand on his head. _Oh I drank too much too soon, didn't I?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**The Next Morning**

"So who got sent on airmail duty yesterday to check that pirate's story?" Snotlout asked casually as they were sitting around the Academy waiting.

"They sent Coulson since he's not doing anything and his Nadder _is_ quite fast," Astrid answered. Stormfly squawked defensively and Astrid smirked as she put a hand on the Nadder's crest, "even if Stormfly's faster. Besides, Hiccup's not flying with us today, he's busy with making sure the ice gets out of Berk and blasting some of the tougher pieces."

"So what're we here for?" Tuffnut asked.

"The sentries spotted a wild dragon pack that's going to be right in the path of some ships coming to Berk with some materials we can't get here for the repairs or that we won't be able to make ourselves for a while. We're heading them off and making sure the ships get here," Astrid explained, shaking her head and wishing the twins would remember things more often. "Hiccup figured that with his mother helping us we could deal with it easily and he could get a bunch of things here out of the way. And well, she volunteered."

"Blah blah blah, can we go now?" Snotlout asked angrily. "I've got more important things to do than babysit ships! Especially after Hiccup cost me those two days by making me watch yak roast!"

"And he thinks he'd be a better chief than Hiccup," Fishlegs muttered just loud enough for her to hear. Astrid simply shrugged in response as they heard a distinct roar and saw a large brown dragon landing outside the Academy.

"You know," Valka said as she and Cloudjumper crawled uneasily into the chain linked arena that made the core of the Academy, "when Hiccup said they turned the old killing ring into a training ground, I didn't believe he was that crazy."

"We thought it was crazy too," Fishlegs pointed out hesitantly. "I mean, we used to… you know."

"To be fair," Astrid interrupted thoughtfully to cut off the reminder of the Academy's wartime history, "it was available and it was built to handle dragon related accidents, so it wasn't like a mishap would destroy Berk. Especially if certain… explosions happen." She turned to give the twins a dirty look.

"I suppose, but it doesn't feel right." Valka admitted with a half hearted shrug. "Maybe I just remember too much from my days as a young girl."

"Whoa, you trained here?" Snotlout asked in surprise as he looked at the older dragon rider.

"What Viking of Berk hasn't?" Valka answered sadly. "It was kill or be killed."

"Well, at least now every Viking that trains in here is learning to befriend dragons and if they have to be driven off, done so in a more peaceful manner." Fishlegs chimed in as the dragons began to take off and fly out of the Academy.

"So, what're we going to do with the wild dragons?" Tuffnut asked. "We going to scare 'em off with some fire? Or maybe we can get Toothless to do some of that alpha stuff!"

"Yeah, that was _awesome!_" Ruffnut answered excitedly, "He's all glowy and then he's blasting that big dragon - heck, did you see him blow that tusk off?!"

"YEAH BABY!" Tuffnut shouted as the two headbutted each other as they flew over the docks.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Hey, you two do realize that Toothless might of been out here if you two didn't set off those barrels yesterday!"

"Ah, who cares? It's not like they were going to use 'em or something!" Ruffnut complained, "I mean, what was he going to do, tie them to a dragon's belly and cut the rope to drop it?"

"Uh, no, they were using it to help clear the ice and they barely had enough barrels left to break the stuff into more manageable pieces." Fishlegs chimed in in annoyance. "And the original plan was to have a dragon carry it and drop it from a high altitude."

"What's all this about?" Valka asked as she frowned at them.

"Oh, one of the ideas Hiccup had to scatter attackers was to drop a barrel full of Zippleback gas from the air and then light it from afar," Astrid explained as she remembered him and Gobber talking about how to make a barrel sealed enough to store the gas yet still be able to cause it to expand quickly on impact. "Mostly for when it's too dangerous for a Zippleback to actually get in close and do it."

"I never expected Hiccup to get so into figuring out how to fight with dragons," Fishlegs commented thoughtfully as they left Berk's harbor and headed to the northeast. "I mean, he never really liked fighting."

"And he's the chief?" Snotlout dryly answered. "I mean, who heard of a chief who didn't like fighting? That's half the job, fighting Berk's enemies!"

"How about Stoick the Vast?" Valka shot out quickly, leaving Astrid watching silently as Snotlout opened his mouth and then closed it with a huff as they held the course, leaving their trip a silent one.

A few minutes later, Valka and Cloudjumper flew up next to Stormfly from the right, startling the Nadder briefly before it realized it was a friend. "So, Astrid," Valka asked as Snotlout was trying to argue against the twin's idea about shooting flaming arrows after covering an area with Barf's gas.

"What's wrong?"

"You know what's been bothering Hiccup? He said it's nothing, but he seemed restless."

Astrid shrugged. "No, he said he was fine but something was eating at him."

"When?"

"Right after that pirate ship was spotted." There was a small explosion behind them and they turned to see Snotlout's helmet smoking and the twins hitting each other's fists with smug satisfaction.

"I'm a little worried about the twins," Fishlegs admitted as he and Meatlug came up on Astrid's left. "I mean, this is nothing new but they're getting into more dangerous stunts."

"And playing bait for the Screaming Death wasn't dangerous?" Astrid retorted with a smirk as Fishleg's shivered. "Relax, that was five years ago."

"Um, Astrid!" Tuffnut called, "What's that on the horizon? Like, dead ahead of us!"

She frowned as she squinted and saw shapes moving quickly in the air. "There's the wild dragons… and there's the ships! C'mon, we need to keep them away!"

Diving towards the convoy of four ships it was clear that they had just run afoul with the wild dragons. No ballista or catapult shots had been fired yet and it looked like the crew had been caught off guard. _Good, the dragons won't be too mad then,_ Astrid thought as she and Stormfly dove in and got in between the front of a ship and a Hideous Zippleback about to vent gas. The Zippleback paused in mid air in surprise as Stormfly readied her spines and a quick tail flip sent a small spread towards the Zippleback, the intentional near miss sending the message clearly and the dragon flew away.

A gust of wind caused Astrid to duck and she looked up. Cloudjumper and Valka were speeding into the middle of the fray before the Stormcutter roared defiantly towards the other dragons. A challenge, one group of dragons to another. The other dragons looked between themselves uncertainly as Fishlegs and Meatlug landed on one of the ships, scaring away a wild Gronckle nibbling away at a large stone block on the deck of a ship.

"Shoo, shoo!" a Viking on the ship behind Astrid shouted as a Terrible Terror was pulling his face with its mouth. Astrid smirked to Stormfly as the two turned around and the Nadder squawked loudly. The Terror squealed in surprise and let go, seeing the larger dragon with her tail spines readied before flying away. "Thank you!"

"No problem!" Astrid answered as the wild dragons began to fly away, Hookfang firing off several quick jets of flame and Cloudjumper roaring again to make the point. The wild dragons were not interested in a fight over what they had now learned was under the protection of another pack of dragons. "You're heading for Berk, right?"

"Aye, that we are!" the sailor said with a nod. "To be honest, I expected the new Chief and his Night Fury to scare 'em away."

"So did I," Snotlout declared as he and Hookfang came down to a lower altitude. "Now can you get those ships to Berk already?"

"Snotlout, leave them alone," Astrid chided harshly, "they didn't have to come here to help us out and it's not their fault a wild dragon pack decided to pick on them."

"I'm just saying, his dragon's the alpha, shouldn't he of been out here?"

"Oh, they got the message," Valka added, "Besides, Cloudjumper likes to think he's the big guy after the alpha." She rubbed the Stormcutter's neck and it grinned, or at least the dragon's equivalent of a grin.

"Uh huh. And who's sent in when we need to burn something? That's right, me."

Astrid rolled her eyes and shook her head at Snotlout's ego inflation. "Come on, let's just get these ships safely to Berk."

XXXXXXXX

**One Hour Later**

"Okay Hiccup, stop dodging the issue," Astrid said as she cornered him at the docks after the ships arrived. "What's been bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Hiccup insisted as he tried to brush her off, though as he said it he immediately realized Astrid would not buy it. "Just thinking about some things."

"C'mon, if it was politics you'd be sharing," Astrid answered, unimpressed just as he expected. She glanced around. "You planning on doing a flight around the island?"

"Yeah, figured it'd be a good idea and we broke the worst of the ice," Hiccup admitted as he caught on to what she was saying. She wanted to talk in the air where they had a little more privacy than at the docks where supplies were being unloaded. Gobber was handling it and Hiccup would only be needed if a dispute started, and all that was left for the ice now was just manual labor and they had more than enough hands and dragons for that task.

"Then let's go," she said as she reached for the saddle on Stormfly and hoisted herself up.

Toothless walked up to him and gave a soft warble. "What?" Hiccup asked as he got on and they launched into the air. Coming around where the finish line for the dragon racing used to be, Astrid and Stormfly flew up close to them.

"Okay Hiccup, spill. What's bothering you?"

He sighed with a faint smile. "You're going to keep asking until I tell, aren't you?"

"You're not the only one who noticed, Hiccup. Your mother was asking earlier."

"Well, glad to know the women I love aren't thrown off by manly repression of issues," he dryly noted as he shook his head. "Alright. It's something Snotlout said."

"Something Snotlout said?" Astrid asked in clear surprise as they flew over one of the larger pieces of ice left that a couple Monstrous Nightmares and a team of Vikings with pickaxes were breaking down and a team of Gronckles were carrying out to wagons waiting where the ice ended. "I thought you didn't care about what he said."

"Normally I don't," he answered as they gently turned course. There was an explosion down below as a Hideous Zippleback set one off to break down one of the larger surviving chunks of ice. "But I dunno, what he said has just been bothering me."

"Okay stop stalling, what did he say?"

"To the point as always," Hiccup said with a smirk before shaking his head. "You remember that trip to Breakneck Bog five years ago, right?"

"How could I forget?" she answered with a smirk before she paused and the smirk washed off her face. "Oh. Right, you found that little doll."

"Of a dragon, yeah." Hiccup finished with a nod. "That my mother had given me."

"What Snotlout said had to do with your mother, didn't it? And since he's still walking around it wasn't an insult…"

"Hey, you're the one who punches people out over these things, not me." Hiccup answered with a smirk as he remembered the last time the Flightmare had been to Berk. "Nah, he was making a comment more towards me and Toothless."

"But in relation to your mother?" Astrid noted as they flew over the great hall.

"Yeah. He said that I wasn't the first dragon rider on Berk," Hiccup finally explained. "Mostly because Dagur used that in the list of titles for his last surrender demands."

Astrid chuckled before catching herself and covering her mouth. "Sorry, it's…"

"Dagur's asinine surrender demands, I know," Hiccup answered as he shook his head. "They'd be funny if they didn't come with the implication of an invasion."

"Even if you more or less tell him to sod off?" She tilted her head towards him with a faint frown and Hiccup shrugged.

"Well, the terms weren't exactly what I'd call agreeable. More like… deranged."

"Wow, I'm surprised," she sarcastically responded before adopting a more serious tone. "But as to what Snotlout said, who's he to know? And does it even matter?"

"No," Hiccup admitted as they came around to Bucket and Mulch's farm, "that's why it's bothering me. It shouldn't matter, but dragon riding was my thing, you know? The way I finally managed to be accepted around here."

"And what? You think this means it's no longer what made your mark?"

"Well…" Hiccup paused as he looked down at the farm, spotting a dozen tipped over yaks, and sighed. "Oh come on… let's go, Toothless!" He adjusted the prosthetic and the two dove, looking over the field until he saw someone leaping behind a barrel. Hovering over it, Hiccup leaned over Toothless' head and saw Gustav and another rider from his class cowering.

"Gustav, Bjorn, get these yaks rightened before I get back!" Hiccup threatened as he scowled at the two. "And don't make me put you on cleaning out the dragon roosts again, you're already in enough trouble as it is."

Gustav gulped and the two quickly ran towards the nearest yak when Stormfly started squawking. "There!" Astrid shouted as she pointed towards some bushes higher on the hillside where Stormfly was looking. Hiccup reengaged the prosthetic tail and Toothless shot over with Stormfly taking off behind him. The four found two more of the younger dragon riders in training hiding behind the bushes with a pair of spyglasses Hiccup had stocked the Academy with.

"Uh oh," one of them, a blond haired girl, said as the two veteran riders and their dragons were hovering over them.

"Did you guys put Gustav and Bjorn to this?" Astrid asked, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I.. uh… yes, uh, we did," the red haired boy with barely any facial hair admitted.

"Fine, then you can help them get those yaks rightened. If they're not back on their feet by the time we get back you're all cleaning the roosts of dragon dung, alright?" Hiccup glared at them and they immediately went running down the hill.

"How long are we giving them?" Astrid asked as they flew back into the air and moved on.

"Let's do a loop around the peak. Should be long enough, then we make them apologize to Bucket and Mulch." Hiccup answered.

"Sounds good." The two flew towards the snowy peak of the island and once out of sight of the farm, Astrid continued the conversation from earlier.

"So Snotlout thinks you weren't the first dragon rider; what's the big deal? You still did all that and it's not like your mother actually taught you how."

"True," Hiccup admitted with a shrug, "But everyone attributes discovering it to me, here and around the other islands. The thing is, if I go around and say I wasn't actually the first won't that undermine my authority?"

"You're sounding like Snotlout," Astrid said as she frowned.

"I'm serious," Hiccup countered, "If I wasn't Chief right now I wouldn't care at all, but if the Chief had one achievement he was real proud of and then started saying it wasn't really his achievement, doesn't that put everything I did in question?"

"Hiccup, why would that put anything you've done in doubt? You and Toothless still killed the Red Death and freed the dragons there. You two still led Berk into doing something that no Viking tribe, clan, or village had ever managed to achieve. Even the Berserkers never really bonded with the Skrills they managed to catch, not like we do."

"So what, just correct it and hope people don't start flinging accusations at me and ruining a diplomatic meeting?"

"If you really want to keep the history straight? Yes." she bluntly answered as they came around the peak and were on their way back to the farm now. "Hiccup, with everything you've pulled off who cares if you actually did it first or if someone else did? You still found it out on your own and you stopped a three hundred year war in the process." Astrid shook her head. "You know who you are, and you know what's between you and Toothless besides that saddle."

Hiccup glanced down in case she was just making a joke about something but saw nothing and looked back to her as they were approaching the farm again. "Yeah, I do."

"And if it's really bothering you, talk to your mother about it."

Hiccup nodded. "Well then, let's see how Gustav and the others did."

As it turns out, Bucket and Mulch had returned. All the yaks were rightened again and they were holding the young riders at the gate to the farm. Toothless and Stormfly came in and gently landed outside the fence, allowing Hiccup and Astrid to slide off and walk up to the group.

"Ah, Chief!" Mulch said with a firm nod, "Thanks for catching these yak tippers."

"No problem; were they all back up?"

"They were still doing it when we got back," Mulch explained as Stormfly started preening.

"Sorry, chief," Bucket said glumly, "Tipping them over is…"

Mulch sighed in annoyance and gave Bucket a light nudge with his non-prosthetic hand, "Bucket, you didn't tip them over, you just helped with rightening them."

"Oh, right." Bucket said before he glared at the four young riders. Hiccup's lip curled in amusement as he shook his head. Bucket might of worn his namesake to hide the near-fatal head injury he had sustained and it made him clueless at times, but he meant well.

"How many yaks did Bucket end up putting back up?" Astrid asked as she folded her arms.

"Just the one," Mulch answered with a shrug. "You doing anything with these four?"

"None of the yaks were hurt?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope, they're all fine if a little distressed."

Hiccup nodded at Mulch's answer and turned to the young riders. "You four have anything to say to them?"

"Uh…" Gustav said awkwardly as he shifted his feet. "We're sorry?"

"And we won't do it again?" Bjorn added.

Hiccup glanced to Astrid and she returned with a knowing smirk; they would have to clean this up again someday. Just long enough for them to forget the promise.

"Good," Mulch said as he nodded. "Now get out of here, I'm sure you've got things to do!" The four ran off and Mulch turned to Hiccup. "Thanks again for the help, Chief."

"No problem," Hiccup said as he got back on Toothless' back. "And let me know if they do it again, I'll make sure they're cleaning the dragon roosts if they do."

"We will!" Mulch said as they took off.

"So, what're you going to make the twins do?" Astrid asked as they began to fly back towards the town itself. "You still haven't punished them for setting off those barrels and wrecking that old storeroom yesterday."

"I'm trying to find something they won't also blow up or make a mess out of," Hiccup admitted with a sigh. "I can't put them on roost duty, they'll just throw the dung at each other and make a bigger mess. And making them manually lift the ice is just going to have them get Barf and Belch to blow it into tinier pieces or they'll start stabbing each other with pieces they can lift."

"Why not put them on a fishing boat since that's a fairly dull job, keeping Barf and Belch at the Academy for the day?" Astrid suggested. "Make sure whoever's on that boat can keep them in line and make sure they don't pack anything dangerous on the ship? Worse case worse they start slapping each other with sturgeons because they feel like they're wasting away from boredom."

"Yeah, Sven can probably handle the two." Hiccup said with a nod. "Thanks Astrid."

"You're welcome. Now stop worrying about who the first dragon rider really was, for all you know some Roman or something did it a thousand years ago and no one remembered."

Hiccup chuckled uneasily. "Alright, I will."

"Good, because I think I can see Coulson on the horizon… and he's got another guy riding with him."

"Sounds like the raid story held up," Hiccup commented as they flew towards the Berk rider and his guest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Later that Night**

**Great Hall**

"So, the kidnapped-by-pirates story was true?"

"Yeah, it was," Hiccup answered, sitting across from his mother in their temporary home after dinner was done in the great hall. "Chief Gulbrand was happy to see his people safe and confirmed everything they said. They're sending a ship to pick them up and another to bring the pirates to Lava Lout Island."

"I would of thought that The Brawler would of wanted to do it here," Valka said, clearly surprised as she used Gulbrand's epithet. "He never liked taking prisoners too far, to much of a tax on his supplies."

Hiccup shrugged at his mother's comment as he took another slow sip from the mug in front of him. "I'm not complaining, I don't like putting up heads everywhere like Dagur does. Mind, Gulbrand's probably going to make them do manual labor or something first. He does like irony." Or, as Hiccup realized as he felt his gut tightening, Gulbrand might make them thralls and sell them somewhere. After all, he liked irony.

His mother simply nodded as she leaned back in her chair. Cloudjumper and Toothless had both dozed off, leaving the two alone to talk.

"So," Hiccup started awkwardly, "you asked about my day yesterday…"

"Astrid talked to you then?" she said.

"You knew?" Hiccup asked in surprise.

"Well, I did ask her hoping that if nothing else she'd try to get an answer out of you." She smirked knowingly. "I've been gone for twenty years, but I still know some tricks. Asking a Viking's beloved about something is usually a good way to get them concerned."

"Heh, right," Hiccup retorted uneasily as he sipped out of his mug again. "Anyways, it was something Snotlout said before that ship was spotted. About how I'm not the first dragon rider."

The room was silent for a minute before his mother spoke up. "So, what was he saying exactly? That you shouldn't take pride in what you did?"

"He phrased it more like setting the record straight," Hiccup answered uncertainly. "Since well, _you_ were the first one to ride dragons, not me."

"That doesn't take away from what you managed to achieve," she said as she leaned forward towards him.

"No, it doesn't, but now that I think about it, it feels wrong to be getting the praise for something you did long before I even met Toothless." Hiccup looked down his mug uncertainly, only halfway through his drink as silence fell in the room.

"So," she said to break the silence, "does being the first one to ride a dragon really matter to you?"

"Yes, er, uh…" Hiccup felt his gut tightening again. "No… I mean, ah…"

His mother raised an eyebrow at him as he continued to fumble. "If it did matter, then _why_ does it matter? Was it because it was something you could call your own, or is it pride?"

"The first one," he answered, grasping the offered straw. "I mean, before I met Toothless they kept me in Gobber's forge or otherwise inside. For years I wanted to be able to get out there and do something right, show that I wasn't a load on Berk and that I could actually help."

"I'm surprised they didn't recognize your building skills," she answered as she gestured towards him. "That wing suit you made… it's incredible. And you managed to help Toothless fly again."

"After many attempts," he pointed out. "And no, I wasn't because well, building things usually calls for prototypes and working out the kinks in the process, it's not perfect the moment it's done." He winced as he recalled some of his younger mishaps and the resulting damage to Berk. "Well, let's just say that I made my mark in all the wrong places. That was why everyone wanted me to stay inside."

"But Gobber could go out and fight, so they put up with his misadventures?"

"More or less," he admitted as he gulped down some more of his drink. "Not me, I couldn't lift an axe, swing a hammer, or throw a bola too far. That was why I built a device to shoot it for me." He paused and winced painfully as he remembered what it accomplished. "And well…"

"That was how you shot Toothless down? With one of those devices?"

Hiccup felt his body heating up. He had desperately tried to avoid that when discussing how he learned to ride a dragon with his mother; even though he knew she understood why he wanted to do it so badly and she had told him as much, he still felt like it was a dirty secret. _And maybe that's a good thing,_ he realized. It meant he learned from his mistake if he felt bad remembering what he had done.

"Yeah," he admitted as he looked towards the two sleeping dragons uneasily. "No one believed me, though. So, I went to go find him and the rest is history - I met Toothless, and together we stopped the war."

"And people finally accepted you for you who were, rather than just seeing you as an embarrassment?"

_Harsh, but true,_ he noted as he felt the sting in the words even if she wasn't trying to insult him. "Yeah. I managed to be accepted on my own merits. The one to end the war by not doing the Viking thing."

"And being the first one to ride a dragon was how you do it?"

"At the time? Yeah, it was." He shrugged. "I mean, everyone thought you were, well, you know…"

"Dead," she answered softly as she looked down.

"Yeah, so the idea that you might of been doing this never occurred to me." Hiccup paused and glanced down. "I guess I just enjoyed the _good_ attention. After years of being the butt of every joke, I was just glad to be recognized as a valuable part of Berk rather than just another mouth to feed."

"So that's why this is bothering you - the whole reason you were finally accepted seems like a lie?" his mother said as she looked up towards him with a sense of certainty as Hiccup paused and looked into his mug again, almost done with his drink.

"Yeah, I think that's it," Hiccup said slowly. The room fell silent again as he was left wondering if this was who he really was, someone who needed the adoration for pulling something no one had done before off. That was why Snotlout's comment bothered him - because deep down, he knew that after meeting his mother and finding out what she had been up to meant he had been living a lie.

But was it a lie, or just not having all the details? It was always easy to look at the stories and see things that their subjects would miss. Was he in the wrong for enjoying the praise for what he achieved because as far as he knew his achievement was unique, and now that he knew better he should act on that? What really mattered, who did it first, or how he acted with what he knew?

"Let the skalds and scholars argue who did it first," his mother finally said, knocking him from of his thoughts. "Does it really matter in the end which one of us did it first? The result was the same."

"I know, but it feels wrong to take credit for something you did."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Hiccup shrugged before answering. "If someone asks I'll tell the truth; you were first one to actually do it. Honestly it's others who insist on throwing the title on, usually the same who call me the 'dragon conqueror'," the two scoffed as Hiccup shook his head at the title Alvin and Dagur had used for him. "Otherwise, those who know me know I don't mind putting the praise where it's supposed to go."

She smiled sadly. "At least you know who you are. But it doesn't matter which one of us did it first, our achievements are still our own. If anything, you did the more impressive feat by learning how to fix the damage you did. You stopped a war."

"Yeah, all me and Toothless had to do was put a few holes in the Red Death's wings and then Toothless just had to put a plasma blast right into his mouth." Hiccup answered as he considered the achievements. "You were fighting Drago's army for _years_ and I don't care how much damage we did to his army at that sanctuary, if were were up against them not counting that Bewilderbeast of his I doubt we'd of won."

"I never fought Drago personally, or even met him, before then," she admitted as she glanced towards Cloudjumper. "We were mostly just poking at his borders and hitting trappers like that Eret fellow. Even then, Cloudjumper and I had flown for a while before Drago started his campaign."

"Doesn't change the fact you were fighting someone who proved to be more dangerous than the Red Death from what he commanded. After all, Toothless and I had flown together for a while too before we faced it." Hiccup pointed out.

His mother smirked. "Well, I suppose I did set myself up for that. But don't worry about who was first, we've both done impressive things that aren't changed by being the first one to ride a dragon. And if you're handling talks with the other chiefs don't make a scene about getting it straight for my sake, just get the job done and explain it afterwards when you get celebratory drinks."

Hiccup chuckled. "Or bash it into Dagur's head when he inevitably tries to flaunt his fleet?"

His mother rolled her eyes as he finished off his drink. _So what does it matter who did it first? _Hiccup thought he felt the cold ale making its way down his throat. He didn't care about the title, he was happy to correct the mistake. _Move on, Hiccup, move on._

"Anyways, I should get some sleep," Hiccup said as he pushed himself out of his chair and put the mug next to the small keg, smirking faintly. "It's going to be busy soon once the ice is gone and everyone can get their houses up, and probably also means sleepless nights arguing with people."

XXXXXXX

**The Next Morning**

"Fishing? Cool!" Tuffnut said as the twins were standing before Hiccup in the great hall. "Do we get to use Barf and Belch to blast the fish into the boat?"

"Uh, no," Hiccup said quickly as he stared the two down. "Barf and Belch are going to be staying in the Academy. Astrid's waiting outside to make sure they get there."

"Well that stinks," Ruffnut said as she frowned.

"Hey, you two could of avoided this if you didn't blow up those barrels. You knew there'd be consequences." Hiccup scowled as he glared between the two. "And don't start making a mess here either, it'll just make it worse for you two."

"You're serious?" both asked in surprise as they stared at him.

"I am," he answered and nodded to Sven. "Sven here is going to be in charge of the boat you're on, so you're listening to him. And if you screw things up I _will_ hear about it."

The twins looked at each other dejectedly before sighing. "Okay Chief, we'll be at the boats," Ruffnut said as the two walked away. Hiccup sighed and sat down in the throne, putting a hand on his head.

"Chief, I'm not sure if you're trying to punish them or me," Sven commented with a slight grin.

"Trying to punish them," he answered with a slight smirk as he looked towards the formerly silent man. "But I don't blame you for thinking it's a punishment. I have to do something with them, and a couple days doing something boring for them seems as good a way to do it as any."

"True, and I just need to keep them working?"

"Exactly, as well as making sure they aren't slapping each other with sturgeons."

Sven nodded firmly. "I better follow them then and get to work."

"Thank you, Sven, for taking this on."

"No problem, Chief." He nodded and left, leaving Hiccup mostly alone in the great hall as Toothless crawled up to him and nuzzled his hand.

Hiccup chuckled, "Alright, alright, we can go fly now."

The Night Fury smirked, or what Hiccup had figured out was his equivalent of one, and the two walked out of the great hall. Opening the doors, Hiccup smiled as the sunlight briefly blinded him. The largest of the ice from the Bewilderbeast's attack had been blasted down into a smaller pile, and the remains of it was being moved away as Berk's people began their daily work.

As Hiccup mounted Toothless he smirked to the Night Fury, "Next time we go right for the explosives when it comes to clearing, eh bud?" The Night Fury warbled in amusement before they launched into the air.

In Berk's skies, Hiccup always felt free, more so now that he had his responsibilities as chief. While his father had made it clear with Thornado, and later Skullcrusher, that dragon riding was perhaps one of the most powerful tools a chief had as it allowed them to see better and get to more duties in one day, it also had another benefit. A degree of privacy for Hiccup when he needed to get away from it for a few minutes between tasks.

At least, as long as no one hopped onto their own dragon and followed, but Toothless was quite fast and more than capable of leaving most of Berk's dragons behind. Hiccup glanced down and saw some of the people from Lava Lout Island talking with Snotlout. "Oh boy," Hiccup muttered as gave Toothless a nudge. The Night Fury looked down and the two gently dove down towards the outskirts of Berk, along the path that once lead to Mildew's house before he betrayed Berk to the Outcasts.

"So here I come in and Hookfang makes a ball of fire and then uses his wings to blow it in, scattering the Berserkers and freeing the dragon, saving us all," Snotlout said and Hiccup recognized it immediately as a retelling of their last major battle at Outcast Island.

"Impressive!" one of the former prisoners said.

"The Jorgensons never disappoint, do they?"

"I wonder how Hiccup felt about that."

"You can ask me yourself," Hiccup said as he and Toothless touched down. Snotlout simply folded his arms as he looked at him.

"So, how did you feel?" one of the men in the crowd asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "At the time I was just glad that the Whispering Death wasn't killed. It was risky, but it paid off that time."

Snotlout smirked widely. "And even got my suspension lifted."

"Ah yes, the suspension," Hiccup said as he adopted a practiced glare, "You mean the one that you got from the academy after you disobeyed orders during a training drill in order to show off and nearly got Astrid killed?"

A gasp ran through the crowd as they looked at Snotlout, who grimaced. "Hey, I've apologized for that."

"Just saying," Hiccup answered with a smirk, enjoying the small jab he could return.

"Says the second dragon rider," Snotlout muttered in annoyance.

"Isn't he the first?" the lone woman in the crowd asked with a frown.

"Yeah, that was his mother," Snotlout answered with a smug grin, "She'd been doing it for years when he shot the dragon there down."

"You shot down a Night Fury?!" one of the men asked in awe, looking at Toothless as the Night Fury growled. The former prisoners backed away before Hiccup held up a hand.

"Easy fellas," he said as he put a hand on Toothless, "he's mad at Snotlout, not you guys."

"But you still shot him down." Snotlout pointed out, "Thus he can't fly without you."

"I'm not proud of it, but it was back when the war was on, before I met him. Before I knew how wrong we were about dragons. Besides, I've built tailfin rigs that let him fly on his own." The Night Fury smiled with his teeth retracted as Hiccup rubbed his head. "He even used it for a few days, he just prefers the manual one."

"Amazing," the lone woman in the group said as she slowly approached the dragon, "The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death… and you made it a pet?"

Toothless' teeth came out again and he growled softly. "Not a pet," Hiccup corrected, "we became friends. I fly _with_ him, not _on_ him." A lesson he spent an inordinate amount of time with foreign Vikings and old timers on Berk alike who wanted to learn the art of dragon riding.

"The _second_ Viking to do so," Snotlout chimed in. "So if anyone calls him the First Dragon Rider, they're loony."

"Not really," Hiccup countered immediately. "It depends on what they know. The reason the title's attributed to me is because even I didn't know my mother was alive at the time."

"So, you're not the first one to ride a dragon?" one of the men asked, looking disappointed.

"No," Hiccup admitted with a shrug, "But that doesn't change anything between me and Toothless here?" He gave Toothless a scratch behind his crest and smirked faintly. "And I'm fine with being the second one; my mother is _alive_. That's worth more than any old title."

"So you admit you weren't the first one to ride a dragon, and people can shut up about that?" Snotlout asked eagerly.

"Toothless and I still defeated the Red Death, we still flew against Drago and his enslaved Bewilderbeast," Hiccup pointed out nonchalantly. "That wasn't possible because we were the first ones. It was possible because we forged a friendship that as far as either of us knew at the time wasn't possible." He turned towards Snotlout and grinned faintly. "So what if we weren't actually first? I'll let the skalds and other students of history argue what the title actually means."

Snotlout opened his mouth before shutting it and getting onto Hookfang. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said before he flew off.

"What got into him?" the woman asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "Probably just remembered he was supposed to be helping his dad with some work down at Berk. Speaking of that," he got back onto Toothless, "I should get back to my duties. Hopefully Chief Gulbrand's ship will arrive on time to take you back. You're sure you don't want a lift with dragons?"

"Thank you, Chief Hiccup, but we'd prefer to stay on the ground and seas," one of the men said. "Speed isn't critical like it was for the Chief and we each gave him a short letter to give to our families."

Hiccup nodded. "Fair enough. C'mon, Toothless, let's get back."

The Night Fury braced himself before launching into the air as Hiccup locked the prosthetic into place and the two were in the sky, angling towards the town below as life continued on in Berk and soon, Berk would be able to fully rebuild.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**End Story**

**Author's Notes:** _This popped into my head when I was considering Valka being a dragon rider after seeing the second movie. It kinda felt like one of those points that someone would bring up to try and discredit Hiccup at some point, and I figured Snotlout was an ideal candidate to do it. Sure sure, they're not as antagonistic in the films as they are in the books (though Snotlout certainly earns the ire), but it's still something he might cling to for ego purposes._

_So, I wrote this. To answer that piece of fridge logic in what I hope was in character for them. Hiccup's concerned about it because he knows why he took so much pride in being the first dragon rider, and now that he's actually realizing he isn't he has to ask: does it matter? And well, I feel like it wouldn't matter to him: It didn't change anything. Maybe made some boasts seem hollow, but he's a smart man. He knows that all of that was made with what he knew. And Valka… I don't see her as really caring for the title either. And that of course also comes with what does the title mean - does it mean the first one to introduce dragons into Viking society like Hiccup did, or the first one to actually ride a dragon which as far as we know now is Valka. Drago is a third contender, but we don't know enough about him, like when the meeting happened with the chiefs (as I don't believe Stoick mentioned exactly when that happened, so it easily could have been a few years after Valka was taken by Cloudjumper), so I decided to leave Drago as a contender for the title 'first dragon rider' out._

_Of course, in dealing with this it didn't feel right to have Hiccup just brood. I wanted him to tackle it, but I felt like just having him tackle it and then move on didn't feel right. It would be something that'd be bugging him but he'd try to shrug it off and focus on getting Berk habitable again after all that ice. Plus, it offered a chance for some levity to offset the philosophical discussions by giving Hiccup a taste of Stoick's daily life as seen in Riders/Defenders of Berk, and showing some of what Berk's dealing with._

_As usual, nothing here is mine; I just borrowed the toys. The movie franchise belongs to Dreamworks, the original books to Cressida Cowell._


End file.
